Yin & Yang Pleasures of Cultivation

The Vice-Captain swiftly poured her Spirit Sense into the special compass, feeling out where the broad range of this treasure is. She had only sensed the treasure aura for a second, but an elated expression crossed her face in an instant.

The treasure that special compass picked up on had potent Qi energy of the likes she never felt before! 

Even when she compared it to the previous treasures they found in this independent realm, it couldn't match up to this one.

The Vice-Captain could barely contain her excitement; they had genuinely stumbled upon a goldmine. Especially since their mercenary groups are on the far weaker spectrum of power, any boost to their realms is like a godsend.

Without letting Fruna wander aimlessly any longer, the Vice-Captain reached over and tapped her shoulders. 

When she did so, not only did Fruna stop, the other squadron members stopped as well.

Previously, they all were occupied with scoping out the area, not even paying attention to the Vice-Captain special compass. But now when she had gotten their attention, their eyes all lit up and anticipating bubbles inside their chests.

The Vice-Captain had noticed Fruna's apparent eagerness, and she couldn't stop her own smirk from forming. She told her then, 

"Captain Fruna. The compass has stopped in this general area. And from what I sensed, our luck may not have run out yet."

"Oh? A highly potent Qi treasure, I presume?" One of the silver bloody hammer group members asked, his eyes never leaving off from the special compass. 

Even as he could only just vaguely sense into the compass, he certainly felt a refreshing wave of Qi energy wash over him.

The Vice-Captain nodded and, without taking her eyes from Fruna, told them all, "Indeed. What I'm sensing actually extends far beyond what we found before." 

More eagerness swirled in the other squadron member's veins. Now they simply wanted to sprint off towards this treasure! 

With how much their Heavenly Spirit Sense can cover, the other squadron members still aren't picking up on any dangerous trails. And with no one seemingly around them but themselves, they all thought this treasure was easy picking. 

However, there was one person in their squadron that didn't share this increasing eagerness.

When hearing the Vice-Captain description, Fruna began to suspiciously narrow her eyes. The lack of Spirit Monsters and squadrons groups over here only felt like a slight chilling omen to her.

And now there apparently was some great Qi energy treasure over here? 

Fruna just felt it in her gut that something was highly suspicious. Her other squadron had quickly picked on Fruna's abrupt mood shift.

They almost immediately became more serious and focused, seeing their Captain already having weary thoughts about this treasure. 

Fruna held an appreciative expression seeing her squadron members so quickly go along with her thinking.

Indeed, efficient cooperation and trust are essential for things to flow naturally. And for this situation, Fruna can tell their cooperation will be crucial less they want to fall prey to another strange trap.

"Alright. Before we all get too exci-" 

Fruna abruptly stopped talking, her pupils dilated, and her palm violently clenched down on itself. 

The other squadron members were puzzled only for a moment.

As only a split second after, they all felt a powerful Heavenly Aura rushed down to them, washing over each of their bodies. Immense shock warped the other squadron member's minds; none of them didn't even know how to appropriately react.

This Heavenly Aura had appeared out of literally thin air. Somehow it got past their combined Heavenly Spirit Sense! 

It was shocking, to be sure, even for Fruna, seeing as she's the strongest one there.

But, Fruna wasn't too pressured by this sudden Heavenly Aura. It was right around her level, meaning this would only take a bit for her. 

Fruna's expression was calm, her Heavenly Qi gathered in her hand instantaneously.

Immediately when she sensed the sudden Heavenly Aura, Fruna tossed her hand to the skies, and a brilliant blue Ice Qi glow covered her palm. All in the same motion, she erected an Ice Qi barrier around all of them.

The other squadron members already tensed their bodies for battle. But their pupils dilated as a colossal shadow suddenly appeared from right above them!

"Ahh?!" 

They raised shock squeals as they felt the pressure on them considerably increase! The sudden Heavenly Aura grew in its power right when the colossal shadow had formed from above.

Only a split second before whatever was going to hit them, Fruna and the other squadron members spotted a mix of white and blue crashing down right to them. 

'Bang!' 

A massive snow-white furry ape foot violently stomped on Fruna's Ice Qi barrier, releasing a cascade of its Heavenly Aura all throughout the area. 

Trees toppled over, snow flew everywhere, and even cracks began to spread all over Fruna's Ice Qi barrier.

"Nnng!!" 

The Silver Bloody Hammer group members and the remaining Nobe's Fang group members all leaked painful grunts, nearly tumbling over just from the shockwave.

If it wasn't for Fruna's Ice Qi barrier, then that ape foot would've squashed them into meat paste! 

"Hmph." A small snort leaked from Fruna's mouth, barely even feeling the impact of the attack.

Her eyes could catch a good glimpse of the monstrous ape beast now. 

It had a staggering height, being at least over fifteen feet tall, pure snow-white fur covered its massive body, and both of its eyes shimmered in a chilling azure glow.

This Spirit Monster ape's appearance was a bit haunting, yet Fruna wasn't intimidated at all. 

With just a snap of her fingers, Fruna surged a vast sum of Heavenly Qi into her Ice Qi barrier and made it combust into a thousand tiny piercing ice shards!

The monstrous snow ape felt its body sore to the sky, entirely unprepared for Fruna's counterattack. 

Its realm was only equal to Fruna's fifth-level Heavenly Transformation prowess, and without the element of surprise, there wasn't much it could do to overpower her.

A giant white blur shot through the skies, and following closely behind was thousands of tiny ice shards. Danger drilled into the Spirit Monster ape senses as the Ice shards rapidly approach him.

In a split second, the monstrous snow ape surged forth Heavenly Qi throughout its entire body, causing its massive figure to be suspended in mid-air. 

Immediately after, the beast wrapped its vast body in a Heavenly Qi barrier, defending against Fruna's relentless Ice shards.

Only a couple seconds passed when the monstrous snow ape was launched high into the skies. And Fruna wasn't going to let this prime opportunity slip from her fingers. 

Her expression turned severe as her spatial ring ignited in a flickering blue glow. Immediately, a beautiful long silver sword appeared in her hand, which caused her Heavenly Aura to immensely spike!

The other squadron members had barely recovered when Fruna's aura turned immensely more powerful. Their eyes lit up, realizing that Fruna already brought her Royal Spirit rank sword!

Before they could even see her carrying the sword, Fruna promptly took to the skies the first moment she took out the silver sword. 

Her speed was extremely swift, becoming a sharp blur in between her thousands of Ice Shards.

In a split second, Fruna crossed fifty feet in the air and appeared right over the monstrous snow-white ape. When she popped right above the beast, the sound of her Ice shards crashing into the beast's barrier already boomed into her ears.

None of these Ice shards holds a great power that could ever come close to genuinely hurting the beast. But it was just that powerful enough to distract the monstrous snow-white ape. 

Without hesitating for even a second, Fruna blared her full power right onto the monstrous beast. 

Her Royal Spirit rank silver sword shimmered in a brilliant blue Ice Qi glow, causing the atmosphere around her to drop drastically.

The Spirit Monster ape sensed frantic danger from right above it. A considerable pressure locked onto its body, nearly making its movements sluggish. 

At this point, all the monstrous ape could do was inject all of its Heavenly Qi into its barrier, similarly releasing its own full power.

Fruna's and the beast Heavenly Aura clashed before they even struck each other, causing the air currents around them to get utterly destroyed. 

However, the beast's full power was nothing to the combined might of Fruna's own power and her Royal Spirit rank silver sword.

Fruna had then swiped her silver sword down at lightning speeds, cutting through the beast's Heavenly Aura and Heavenly Qi barrier in one attack! 

The monstrous snow-white ape's eyes burst open as it felt immensely suffocated. A vast force trembled its arms, and its eyes could only watch as Fruna's silver sword soared straight at its head. 

Though they had the same cultivation level, Fruna's Royal Spirit rank sword gave her that extra edge to outspeed the beast!

'Bang!' 

Blood gushed out of the monstrous snow-white ape's arms like a sprinkler, as right before Fruna's sword pierced through its skull, it raised its massive arms in defense. 

Flesh, blood, and fur sprayed all around Fruna as there were now massive gashes left on the monstrous snow-white ape arms. 

The Spirit Monster ape also couldn't stop from leaking a low grunt of pain as Fruna's sword swiped sent it blasting towards the ground.

Its tremendous body shot off like a missile, nearly reaching the ground in just a second. Before the beast crashed to the ground, it flipped its massive body around, skidded along the snowy surface, causing tremors in the earth.

At the same time, Fruna landed back down in front of her squadron members. Before Fruna could process her next attack, the Spirit Monster ape stopped its momentum, and a wild power exploded from its body!

"RWAA!!" 

The colossal beast stood straight up, unleashing an earth-shattering roar as a yellow glow burst from within the depths of its eyes.